


Brother & Sister

by Rose_Bride



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Changelings, Fae & Fairies, Gen, I always wanted to write an AU with this, One Shot, Sibling Bonding, Zine: Miracle Illusions, and now i finally did it, yay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26128555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_Bride/pseuds/Rose_Bride
Summary: “Reiji, this is Ray; from now on she will be your older sister.” The man said – Mom said to call him ‘father’, but he is not used to say it just yet – and gestured for the girl to come forward.The girl really does look older than him, her hair is a deep red color that from his angle, it appears to have different shades; she is taller than him for maybe a couple of inches, but that’s not what makes him unable to look away, it’s her eyes.Reiji can’t decide if her eyes are blue, or purple or grey, or just all of them together, those same eyes are now looking him from head to toe, narrowing when she looks into his face and she leans forward.“You’re cute.” She says and mimics her father’s gesture on his hair. “That’s good, I like you,”
Relationships: Akaba Ray & Akaba Reiji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	Brother & Sister

**Author's Note:**

> This is my full fic for the Miracle Illusions zine! Please visit out store! --> [ **Miracle Illusions**](http://miracleillusions.bigcartel.com)

It had begun again.

The soft tune of notes playing from the music room came to him and once again disturbed his reading; it didn’t matter how much he tried to refocus on the letters printed, they all became muddles scribbles whenever her music filled the halls of the school.

Like a clockwork people, be it classmates or teachers came flocking in order to hear her performance.

 _‘You’re so lucky! You get to hear it every day!’_ Reiji would hardly consider himself lucky for having to bear with her, even if he actually cared for her music.

 _‘I bet she practices day and night to be so good at it!_ ’ No, she didn’t, she only played when she wanted to, sometimes neglecting her instruments for weeks at the time only to then picked them up and play for hours and hours…

Hours that went by with everyone at the house enthralled by her playing, hours that went by with them neglecting everything else just to listen.

Even now, he had to shake himself from the urge to follow the others into her audience.

~o~

_When he and his mother step into their new home, Reiji had a strange feeling._

_No, he didn’t feel sick, nor did he feel pain or even tired, for his five year old self it had been hard to pin down the feeling that he now identified with walking into a fog so thick that it was almost as if a veil was placed over his eyes._

_A grown man, tall and with broad shoulders and dark skin kneels to his height – or tries to, because he is too tall – and ruffles with his hair, his expression full of tiny wrinkles around his mouth and eyes, as if he was used to laugh a lot, when his eyes open Reiji can’t help but think there is something off with it._

_Probably sensing his sudden discomfort, he turned his head to look behind him and has to move for Reiji to see her._

_“Reiji, this is Ray; from now on she will be your older sister.” The man said – Mom said to call him ‘father’, but he is not used to say it just yet – and gestured for the girl to come forward._

_The girl really does look older than him, her hair is a deep red color that from his angle, it appears to have different shades; she is taller than him for maybe a couple of inches, but that’s not what makes him unable to look away, it’s her eyes._

_Reiji can’t decide if her eyes are blue, or purple or grey, or just all of them together, those same eyes are now looking him from head to toe, narrowing when she looks into his face and she leans forward._

_“You’re cute.” She says and mimics her father’s gesture on his hair. “That’s good, I like you,”_

_He has very few but vivid memories of the couple of years following that first meeting._

_He once caught her climbing the massive three in their backyard at night, with a speed and strength no child should have, and when she caught him watching her from the window, she sat on the nearest branch and smiled, as if knowing he wouldn’t say a thing… he could swear her eyes glowed in the dark._

_How could he when both of their parents go out their way to please her?_

_Was dinner time too far away? She would get some money to buy snacks; did the neighbor’s kid refuse to let her play with his toys? No punishment would come forward when said toys were stolen, broken or thrown in the trash._

_Not even Reiji himself was immune, one of his clearer memories is of Ray being enchanted by one of the neighborhood dogs; a perky small and pudgy dog that always barks at them._

_“He’s cute,” She said and Reiji wondered how did she knows it was a ‘he’ “He as cute as you… I want him, get him for me Reiji.”_

_And Reiji, then only 7 years old, immediately does it, because he also thinks that the dog is cute, and maybe if Ray asks they will be allowed to keep him for themselves, and because if Ray doesn’t get what she wants, she will be mad at him and he doesn’t want that, he wants her to be happy._

_He’s is already working on untying the leash from the trunk when the dog lunges at him and is sinking his jaw into his arm._

_Everything that happens afterwards is too quick for Reiji to see clearly, or maybe it isn’t, maybe he was to busy crying out in pain and fear when he saw blood, his blood dirtying his sleeve._

_“STOP!!” Ray yells has an anger in her that he never saw before, not even in her loudest tantrums, it almost sounds like a growl and it works because the dog is cowed before her and whining like a puppy. “You wretched creature how do you dare harm that which is mine?! You will regret it!”_

_She pulls Reiji into her embrace and he’s too much of a mess to complain that she pressing exactly where the dog bit down. He remembers her being too serious as they walked back home, her eyes shone with anger and her teeth sinking into her lips, and something about her expression is just as scary as the dog, too wild._

_When they get home and their mother sees the blood Ray starts shrieking about the mean dog that attacked them and her voice gets as loud as it gets, but there are no tears._

_The following day the dog is taken by the pound and Reiji doesn’t see him again._

_Other than these specific happenings, most of his memories of that time mingle together._

_Memories of her pinching his cheeks until it was painful and he felt tears on the corner of his eyes and her giggling afterwards._

_Of her telling him that she wants milk and cookies before dinner, and him doing it even though he never before had disobeyed mother._

_Both of them in the playground near their house and Ray not letting him play with other children because he’s **her** little brother, and he’s never forgotten how tight her hand held his own._

_When he turns 9 years old and Ray turns 11, two weeks after that they go back to school two things happen: first, Ray joins the choir, the dancing and music clubs and becomes the idol of the school, then one of the teachers realizes that Reiji needs glasses and tells their parents as much._

_Reiji doesn’t say anything as the teacher explains that if he doesn’t get the glasses there’s a chance his vision will get worse as he grows older, but Ray was completely opposed to the idea, claiming that he wouldn’t be cute anymore and walks out of the office pulling Reiji with her just a little too hard._

_But either they buy him ones or the school board will and a bit of his mom’s pride shine through the fog of her eyes – why had he forgotten that? – claiming they wouldn’t need school ‘handouts’ ._

_He’s miserable when they take him to the eye doctor to get his eyes tested and Ray refuses to come with them and doesn’t open her bedroom door no matter how much he knocks saying he’s scared of going to the doctor alone._

_During the car ride there is a heavy mood shared between him and his parents, he thinks that maybe if he only uses his glasses in school, Ray will be less angry._

_The eye doctor is less of a looming figure dressed in white and more of a smiling employee who is actually younger than his mom and gives him a candy before the tests._

_When he finally tries his glasses, Reiji holds his breath, he had never known that everything was a so clear and defined, and he couldn’t believe how far people could actually see, before he had not understood why other kids didn’t need their older sisters to guide them all the time._

_But it’s not just his sight that feels clearer, it’s like his head also feels lighter… his whole body, even his mind feels quicker and less ‘foggy’._

_When they gets home Reiji wants to show Ray his new glasses, how well he can see now, how she won’t have to hold his hand all the time now; instead he watches how the moment they step into the house, both his parents’ eyes cloud over as if they were too tired._

_He watches as Ray finally opens the door to see him and for the first time Reiji doesn’t feel an overwhelming need to please her to do as she says, her hair doesn’t look as shimmering in the light now and he can see her eyes look clearly a purple color._

_Eyes that look at him so coldly he feels a chill running down his back._

_~o~_

“Excuse me?” He hears and almost embarrass himself when he realizes he fell asleep under the tree; his eyes take a little time to focus because he now realizes that his glasses dropped into his lap and he’s almost too quick to put them on again. “Are you okay”

The girl peers down at him, and he finally realizes it’s his classmate: Yuzu Hiragi, even with his impaired sight he always noticed her hair done in pigtails and the hair adornments the same blue of her eyes.

“Do you mind if I practice here?” In the distance Reiji still listens to Ray playing the violin, and he almost tells her no when he sees she also has one. “The music rooms get too noisy and crowded when she plays.”

He just nodded and she sat on the bench on the opposite side to him, unlike Ray’s natural grace, she fumbles quite a bit on placing the violin in the right position, and he can see the band-aids in her fingers and Reiji knows that if he held them he would feel the callouses too.

In his mind he couldn’t help but compare them with Ray’s perfect-looking and nimble hands.

The piece she chooses to play is a much simple one than the one playing far away, he doesn’t know the name of it, but it’s also more cheerful, still, he can tell that she has trouble reaching the higher notes after holding them for too long.

Despite that he watches as she stops with and releases a long sigh, her shoulders sinking and making her look smaller.

“She plays so well,” Yuzu says when she notices him watching her. “I should strive to be better than her, but part of me knows I never will play like Ray.”

“I find your music much more engaging than hers.” He says without thinking, and he turns to the side, hoping his embarrassment isn’t too noticeable.

“You don’t have to be nice,” She laughs, but with no humor. “The things she does with the violin, I think it would take me all my life to learn.” And the sadness laced in her voice makes his mouth taste bitter when he thinks of how effortlessly Ray does… the things she does.

“That’s why when you play, it’s much more meaningful.” He says, and this time he looks directly at her, just so she can see how serious he is. “When Ray plays, it’s means nothing.”

And that was the most he would say about not caring for Ray’s music, just enough for people to think that he was just envious of her talent, and not too much to make people ask questions. When she remained quiet, he took it as his cue to leave.

“Do you not like her?” Yuzu asks, and Reiji almost faltered in his step, but he recovers in time and just looks at her with what he hopes if a confused look. “It’s just… you always come to school together, and go home together but I never see you hanging out or anything.”

She was observant, and that wouldn’t lead to anything good around here.

“We are just… very different people.” He said, turning his back to her, he hoped that she would take the hint and not asking more questions.

Involving her with him, would mean involving her with Ray.

And it would mean involving _them_.

~o~

Reiji waited in the entrance while Ray finished saying goodbye to the twelfth or nth person who always followed her around, once she was finally done, Reiji didn’t gesture to her, didn’t talk to her, and barely stole glances to make sure she didn’t wander off.

Then her shoulder hit his in what she probably thought it was a playful manner, but she had put a little too much force in it, and he was sure to find bruises later.

“I heard you were getting friendly with a girl today.” He didn’t need to look at her to know that she was wearing that cat-like expression that only missed the cat ears and tail – Reiji insisted her carefully manicured nails counted as claws – ready to lunge forward for any juicy drama he may provide her with.

How easy it was to forget that a house cat is still a predator.

“She just wanted to practice, apparently someone likes to hog up the music rooms.” Maybe it was the wrong thing to say but he really hoped that by teasing her, she would forget about Yuzu, that her playing was unremarkable enough to be below notice.

In answer she just started to hum, and leaned on him, her arm sneaking into his arm and taking ahold of his hand, just as she did when they were little.

Reiji wished to say he hated it, that her touch gave him the chills or that she was too cold or hot to be normal, but she was just as soft and warm as any other person and for every bad memory she inspired in him, it was quickly followed by a happy one.

“No need to be so grumpy, if you ask me nicely, then I won’t bother your friends.” Ray said, her voice low, almost a whisper when she added: “I should he grateful for them to not leave my little brother all alone, I should repay them.”

He stopped walking and so did she, still not letting go of his hand.

“Stop it, they’re fine without your gifts.” He said hoping he sounded braver than he felt, the chill did not come from her, but from the wind. “They want for nothing.”

“Everyone wants something.” She said, he couldn’t say her smile became twisted, but it did lift up in way that made her look much less friendly than she intended. “Are you suggesting I’ll hurt them?”

Trick question, if he said yes, Ray would prove him right, and if he said no then she would show him there her definition of ‘hurt’ didn’t necessarily match his.

“I meant nothing.” He said urging her to keep walking.

“Hmph, you’re no fun or cute anymore.” She said, stomping her foot on the sidewalk, her cheeks puffing like the brat she still was at times. “But that’s okay, you’re still _my_ little brother, and I always take care of my you.”

Anyone else may think the glint crossing her eyes was a trick of the light.

He knew better.

And she knows that he knows; but neither of them ever talked about it.

~o~

Maiami city is a peculiar city; it’s as big as it is old – even if it was not always called the same – and it’s not unusual to walk around the city aimless and end up exactly where you needed to be, or end up lost, in a part where you had never been before, old wives tale says that if you turn your socks backwards, you will not worry about being misled anymore.

There are certain places you don’t go around alone, like the groves where the flowers gather around a mound, or how one must be wary when a natural path seems unnaturally straight or the one tree that must not be cut down because it’s too old and the roots run too deep.

On top of a hill, there is a temple everyone must always go to pay their respects the day they turn seven years old.

People say that the ground was flat when the temple was built, they say that it only became a hill after a harsh famine where the then town almost died out and people brought offerings to please the gods.

Maiami city has not suffered more trying times ever since.

If you look around in the city’s family registries, you will find that most families have at least one infant death in _at least_ the past 4 generations; when such deaths are supposed to be a rare happening.

Reiji learned that there is a whole section of the cemetery dedicated to them.

He notices the Akaba name in quite a few of them, and two with her mother’s maiden name and he is reminded that her family moved into the city not too many years ago.

Right now, here they are, in the wake of another of these children; everyone looks as somber as one would expect, but it’s not the first time when he notices that some of them look weary, as if they have witnessed this same event too many times.

A child no older than 1 year old, one that had been deemed healthy since birth suddenly starts misbehaving, they throw tantrums and break things, they bite their own mothers; only to become weakened and listless as time goes on, ultimately getting sick from an unspecified illness and pass away silently on their crib.

“This is dull,” said Ray next to him, and Reiji sees she starts fidgeting and her eyes glass over clearly bored out of her mind; he quietly swats her side for her to keep still; when they were little they could get away with this or even wander off while the event finished, now as Reiji towers over his mother and Ray reaches his shoulder; there would be too many suspicious looks thrown their way.

People don’t talk about it, at least not out in the open where people’s ears are not the only ones listening, but it doesn’t take much for them to suspect of certain behaviors and what happens after suspicion is set, Reiji doesn’t know for certain, but he would rather not let his family to become an example.

“I’ll take you to lunch if you behave.” He said as quietly as he could and Ray immediately perked up and turned her attention to what the priest was saying.

Bargains, always bargains with her, as if she was still a child… or an equally untamed thing.

Regardless, whether it was one or the other, Reiji decided it was time to place some ground rules and being the farthest away from the trees and ocean surrounding the city was his best bet to have a serious conversation.

One that had been due for years now, if his parents wouldn’t do it, then he would.

~o~

Ray ate a lot.

But she was also fussy about what she ate; for example, she would gobble up any kind of sweet pastry, cakes, cookies, pays and a long etcetera but wouldn’t touch any wrapped or store-bought candy, that included slushies, milkshakes and even ice-cream.

Cross that, she _hated_ ice-cream, she wasn’t allergic to it, but he remembers when she tried it once with the promise of the ‘best dessert ever’ and her spitting it afterwards and calling the vendor a liar.

That meant they have gone through a lot of cooking help in the house because of her.

They were always instructed to not use certain species or teas, to always use fresh ingredients, honey instead of sugar when possible, cooking utensils are all plastic or wooden, and above everything salt is forbidden in the kitchen, he remembers one particular lady that probably out of habit put salt in the food and no later than Ray choked on a mouthful of rice with his mom holding tissue for her to spit it, the woman had been fired on the spot.

Reiji remembers the tissue falling to the floor mainly because he saw stains of blood in it.

Cafés in general were the place to go, as long as he didn’t annoy Ray with the amount of sugar and cream, she used on her coffee then she was happy.

Right now, she was slurping a cappuccino concoction that Reiji was certain would give a normal person diabetes after having too many of them.

But this was Ray, so she was – probably – fine as she would be.

“Ray,” He started and she looked up from her drink to look at him, but never stopping her slurping until the last drop was drank, her eyes were titillating and narrowed, as if she sensed his intentions just from the tone of his voice. “About today, I need you to answer some questions.”

“That depends.” She said leaning forward. “What are you willing to give me in exchange?” Each of the last words were punctuated and told with a playful smile and he knew she wasn’t taking him seriously.

Good, then he would show her how wrong she was.

“What I’m giving you in exchange is to maintain your livelihood as it is.” He said fighting the urge to look away from her narrowing eyes. “Because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but our parents are growing older and they won’t work nor provide for us forever; unless you want the charade to fall apart your best bet is to lean on me… in exchange of some allowances.”

There were always these moments where Ray would go absolutely still, impossibly so for any normal person, he could never decide if she looked like a deer caught in the headlight ready to sprint at the slightest movement, or like a bird of prey ready to sweep down for their next meal.

In any case, she looked every bit the wild forest creature they both knew she was.

“It shouldn’t offend me that you call my life a charade, but it does.” She said finally and she was back at being the Ray who everyone loved, the one who would help him look around his room for monsters under his bed or creeping outside the window. “This is why so many of _them_ don’t like you people; always changing, always faithless and never trustworthy.”

 _‘You are one to talk’_ those were the words stuck in his mouth.

“Is this why you take children away? For some petty resentment?” He asked instead, the sight of so many weeping families flashing before his eyes.

“You really need to watch what comes out of your mouth, if you weren’t my beloved little brother, _someone_ would have cut your tongue and blinded you for good measure a long time ago.” She said and waiting as he could see her hand forming a fist, and she smiled again, but this time it looked forced and if it pained her to do so. “There will be a full moon tonight, in old times there were different names for them you know? January has Wolf Moon, February the Hunger Moon, March has the Worm and the Crow Moon, the list goes on; Milk Moon, Mead Moon, Cold Moon… and this month we had the Hunter Moon and tonight _they_ will celebrate the Blood Moon, aren’t they lovely names? You were always a smart one Reiji, tell me, aren’t they warning enough?”

It could be called the axe-wielding moon for all he cared, he would get his answer now and not a day longer.

“Aren’t they _your_ people?” He pushed, and her eyes narrowed even further, her smile faded at last and he could tell by looking at her jaw that she was biting the inside of her cheek; she didn’t want to answer and Reiji knew why: whatever answer she gave now it would put any doubts to rest about where they stood on this ‘family’ business.

After all she couldn’t lie.

“Well?” He said, his fingers drumming on the table; and he couldn’t help but notice that the waitress had not come to bother them for a while now, despite the fact that they were both done, in fact people on the streets were passing them over as if they weren’t there at all.

Her doing no doubt.

“ _They_ are not my people, they dumped me on the way to an early grave for a treaty that has nothing to do with me or you, and yet here we are paying for it.” Ray finally said, and he needed a couple moments to process what she said.

A part of him felt triumphant, finally she admitted to it, he wasn’t going insane this city was the insane one… but it was short-lived and replaced by a hollowness in his stomach, because it meant that all of the awful things that happened were truly something beyond his reach and probably beyond his understanding too.

When he was still smaller than her, he dreamed of Ray explaining away his worst fears, calling him – and his glasses – silly; Reiji could have sworn he had abandoned that childish fantasy years ago; apparently, he was wrong.

“Let’s settle one thing since you opened this can of worms: I have never taken any of these children, nor have I ever helped _them_ either, why would I? I don’t owe _them_ a thing.” Should he be worried of the day Ray may owe them something? For now, he could take her words at face value. “What help could I give _them_ even if I wanted to? They have been doing it for decades, they have experience and better tricks than mine on their side, it takes no longer than someone dozing off or leaving the crib for a single minute more than usual for the change to happen.”

Yes, he knew, he knew about people taking turns to watch over a newborn, he knows of scissors being placed above them, he knows of not uttering the newborn’s name until they turn one year old.

Had he been adamant to blame Ray for something she had no way of pulling off? Regardless of her nature? The realization was giving him a headache.

“You said…” he wished he didn’t struggle with the words. “You said they sent you to an early grave…” That meant the bodies were not enchanted dummies whose illusion had slowly worn off, they really had been alive and dumped into an environment that slowly poisoned and killed them. “…How did you survive?”

“You should research a little bit of family history Reiji, the baby had been born… not really well, she was weak and prone to diseases, I’m sure she must have been lovely for _them_ to look past those flaws, father had her room completely sterilized and free of most things that would kill someone like me after certain time.”

“That means you’re not… then, my sister.” He hated feeling like this, as if he knew nothing, but that was the truth, he had just fooled himself into thinking he knew more than the rest.

“I _am_ your sister.” Her voice tightened for the slightest moment before relaxing again, she looked at him almost pleading. “Had the other girl not been chosen for the tithe, she would have died not long after, and no doubt father would have been too lost in his grief to even think about forming a new family, you would never have had her as sister nor him as your father.”

It took him a couple of seconds too long to realize that Ray was holding his hand across the table, it was still her hand touching his, the same softness to them, the same warmth, her eyes were still the same shade of bell flowers on their garden, and he hair the same color as the dusk, but it was still his sister.

“You did something to me when I first walked in the house…” And to mother too, something that still made him wary of her, no matter how sincere she was being. “You didn’t want me to wear glasses.”

“Yes,” At least she had the decency to look away ashamed. “I was a child barely old enough to understand what I was, I knew I was different and thought I would be abandoned again if my father realized it,” She paused and looked at him again. “I don’t think I ever been as scared as when you looked at me as if I was a monster.”

Ray was still herself and he didn’t know what do to now, it was time for him to look away because he couldn’t deny it.

“I kept waiting for you to walk away to say something, to confront me with answer I didn’t have back then. But you didn’t, and you kept asking me to check your bed before sleep.” She gave him a weak smile and he finally allowed his frown to melt away. “I stopped charming people around me, at least intentionally, I can’t do much about it when I play music or dance though.”

He nodded, less for understanding and more because he had little else to do.

“Is the other baby…” he started but Ray looked away before he finished and his answer was there, of course that’s why they wanted them, if they didn’t care about their own offspring, why would they care for others?

“The baby will live… until tonight.” She still said. “I did tell you it was the Blood Moon, right? They play with them, adorn them and pamper them until the time is right for the harvest.” 

“Shouldn’t we do something?” Reiji didn’t think of himself as indulging in fantasies, but perhaps he had been nursing one for years now.

“If there was something to be done, I would have done it long ago.” Ray said with a sigh. “I could only use the favor _they_ owned me to protect you and our parents; they were waiting but still wary of me, it’s not often one like me lives more than a year, let alone until adolescence, I was forsaken and for that they owned me a life debt, and because our lives are long I could have asked anything, but if I offended them with my request they would have gone after you, just to spite me.”

Perhaps he should count himself lucky that he had a sister who would never lie to him, on the other hand, how long would Ray live? Would she go back to _them_ after their parents and all of them were gone?

“Then what now?” He asked, finally finding his voice again. Ray may leave one day, but she had stayed and maybe that’s what mattered.

“If I wasn’t so selfish, I might tell you to leave this city the moment you can; live your life far away from all this.” She said waving behind her. “But if you plan to stay, then, marry the pigtail girl from the other day.”

Reiji was sure he somehow has managed to choke with his own breath.

Suddenly all the sounds of the city were back, along with the chatter of the people on the other tables, the waitress came quickly with the bill and once paid, Ray simply got up and he had no choice but to follow.

Ray could be faster than him, and lighter on her feet too, but she still waited for him to catch up to her.

“Did I hit jackpot?” She asked looking at his face again, “It doesn’t have to be her, one of her sisters would do too.”

“…Why?” He asked desperately not wanting to have this conversation with her, but still curious.

“ _They_ don’t like twins, they think it’s weird and creepy, like someone being duplicated or broke into halves, or a mirror reflection coming alive.” Ray said, “They are safe, and if they also have twins in the long run, they will remain safe.”

Reiji sighed, not sure if it was relief or tiredness, probably both, but at least Ray wasn’t interested in playing matchmaker.

“And the kids would be so cute too.” She said, her smile turning into a smirk, complete with her wiggling her brows.

“…Stop it.” He said and knew that his face must be a shade darker now because he felt warmer too.

“Aw, see? You can still be cute.” She said and giggled, and locked her arm on his again.

This time he didn’t froze or shiver.

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who may have doubts yet, yes, Ray is meant to be a fae changeling child, a couple folklore notes on certain things alluded to in this fic:
> 
> \- I chose not to drop the fair folk by name, first to keep a bit of mystery, and second because of the whole "names have power" thing, it was said that the fae would know when someone would talk about them and no one wanted to be the center of attention of a fae, child or not.  
> \- It's very likely that most of you have heard of children stolen by faeries and replaced by a glamoured log (fairy no jutsu!... sorry) or one of their own, I chose to take the later interpretation, some version say that fae liked human infants because they were cuter and more resilient than fae offspring, others are more gory saying they are to be taken for food or even human servants, I chose to take the interpretation of a tithe.  
> \- There are many versions of the tithe, but the most popular one is that it was the faeries who had to give up one of their own to hell (sometimes the most beautiful, others that it was seven of them, but most don't mention) and that they used glamoured humans to pass them off as one of their own for the tithe, despite the clearly christian influence, evidence of the belief of the tithe as a merely an euphemism for human sacrifice has been found.  
> \- Every modern fae story has their own interpretation of exactly how weakening the fae are to iron, some say it's just magic-cancelling, other that mere exposure can kill them, some say it only harms if they touch it other that iron derivates are so heavily used in modern day that even the air smells of iron, others say that only pure iron can weaken them (sometimes referred as cold iron) I chose to make it as an allergy, small exposure is sickening but not fatal, constant exposure will slowly kill them, specially more to the young ones, like Ray was.  
> \- Salt has always been a deterrant to the supernatural in ancient folklore, even before christianity, and ice-cream is basically salt and ice, so even if fae are mentioned to prefer sweet foods, I don't think they would like ice-cream :P  
> \- Fae were said to never be able to lie, but still devious, they were said to have a unnatural talent for music and that this music was enthralling for any human listening to it, some versions also say that fae are far less beautiful that they appear to be, as they constantly use glamour to look that way, some say that behind it they look monstrous others that they are average-looking etc.  
> \- All the customs of the Miami population avoiding the fae are all pulled from folklore too; the only thing I made up was the whole thing about a treaty established to avoid famine and misfortunes in exchange of a newborn every few years (although I was mildly inspired by The Last Unicorn in this scenario) and Reiji's glasses, although that one is more of an amalgamation of the metal frames helping Reiji see through glamour and the rocks with holes serving as a see-through it as well.  
> \- All the names of the different moons Ray mentions are actual names that were used in older times because the moon was used by farmers to keep track of harvests and seasons, especially in smaller towns with limited literacy where calendars wouldn't have been of much help.


End file.
